The Motorcycle Action Group (MAG) has added its thanks to Oxfordshire County Council for its motorcycle-friendly road maintenance response.
Long-standing MAG member, volunteer for the Cassington Bike Night, and local Councillor, John Broad contacted Oxfordshire County Council requesting road repairs in advance of the annual event which attracts upward of 7,000 bikes.
The large ‘trench’ in the Yarnton to Cassington road posed a significant risk to the thousands of bikers that would be attending the event.
John said:
“I attended the Cassington Bike Night planning event the week before the event and, luckily, I drove there in my car as I noted a massive trench in the road that required dealing with before the thousands of bikers arrived. I mentioned this to the team, and they attempted to get it repaired using ‘FixMyStreet’. Because it worried me so much, I pulled my Councillor hat and contacted the OCC officer directly. Not only did they pull out the stops to get the hole repaired but they filled in most of the holes all the way from Yarnton Village as well.”
John went out of his way to get the repair dealt with and, importantly, to thank the Council after it completed the work. As the reply to John showed, councils rarely receive such thanks. The OCC department engagement officer wrote: “I have passed on your appreciation to our contractor; both the works manager and site gang who carried out the repairs. That’s great news they did such an excellent job and it’s a real morale boost to get such positive feedback.”
MAG’s Director of Campaigns & Political Engagement, Colin Brown, has written to the leader of Oxfordshire County Council and the Environment & Place (Operations) department to add MAG’s thanks for this excellent example of best practice.
Councillor Liz Leffman, Leader of Oxfordshire County Council, replied saying:
“OCC filled in over 30,000 potholes last year, but the work of our Highways teams often goes unrecognised, so it was great to receive a message from MAG thanking me for our quick response. I am delighted that we have been able to help to make the Bike Night a safe and successful event.”
Colin said:
“In March we launched the Great MAG Road Maintenance Treasure Hunt with a view to uncovering examples of best practice. Motorcyclists face significant risk of death and serious injury because of poorly maintained road surfaces. Seeing a Council react to concerns raised from motorcyclists in this way is the kind of thing we set out to encourage. Over 7,000 bikers attended the Cassington Bike Night, and all were safer as a result of John Broad’s efforts to ask for repairs, and the Council’s speedy and responsible actions.”
The next Cassington Bike Night will take place on 30th June 2025.
The Great MAG Road Maintenance Treasure Hunt is part of MAG’s Resurface Our Roads campaign: https://mag-uk.org/resurface-our-roads/